


Cassteria Colony

by Anonymous



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, Gen, batfamily, gen - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-01
Updated: 2016-02-01
Packaged: 2018-05-17 12:58:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5870560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cassandra is sick. The ballroom floor is nice. The cherubs are not.<br/>A short drabble with little meaning (or not. You decide).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cassteria Colony

Cassandra was on the ground. It wasn’t an odd thing, really, to be on the ground. Bugs were on the ground. Plants were on the ground. Alfred told her that bacteria were on the ground so she couldn’t eat her food when she dropped it, but Tim told her that there was a “five second rule.” Cass wasn’t sure which was true. Did bacteria wait five seconds? Were bacteria governed by a moral code, like she was? Was Cass bacteria?

No, she decided as she stretched out her legs. She wasn’t.

And she was being silly. She scrunched her nose. It was the fever’s fault. The fever does things to people. It was like fear gas, a little. Made you see things that weren’t real.  
However, she was quite positive that a baby with an unraveling diaper was painted on the ceiling.

How _that_ was allowed in the Manor is beyond her.

It looked…stupid. Yeah. Stupid.

Titus yipped, ears drooping as he lowered himself near the young woman. His collar jingled. He groaned and looked at her with mournful eyes.

“Yeah,” Cassandra replied, placing an arm over her eyes. “Same.”

Titus flopped over, shielding her from the elements with his fur. She appreciated it, but truly desired to be closer to the cold floor.

The floor.

Where bugs were.

Cassandra tucked her knees to her chest and rolled over several times. She was a beetle now. A Cass-beetle. Maybe she would live off fallen cheese hors d'oeuvres and pinch people’s ankles for their crimes. She snipped her fingers. Pinch pinch pinch.

“Cass?”

She quirked her head, looking over at the doorway. Tim “five second rule” stood gazing at her with a funny expression on his face. His body screamed curious, but concern remained in him as well. She lifted up a hand and waved. He walked over and settled down beside her, sidestepping Titus.

“What are you doing on the ballroom floor?” he murmured, crossing his knees beneath him.

“Being a bug,” Cassandra replied. She reached out and pinched him.

Tim tried not to jump, but her tiny fingers had a lot of pinching power. “What kind of bug?” he humored her, lying down beside her and resting his arms under his head.

“A Cass-beetle. You’re a Tim-beetle.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

They let the silence take the reigns, drawing comfort in the soothe of quiet.

After several minutes of shifting, Tim (her brother was too skinny for this kind of lifestyle, bugs needed non-knobby spines) turned to her and asked, “Why are you really on the ballroom floor?”

She patted it affectionately. “Cold.”

His eyebrows sprang up. “I thought you had a fever,” he mused, laying a cool hand over her forehead. She closed her eyes. Family was something she never had, never thought she’d have. She had seen it in action, seen the emotion, seen what it was. It was…different being in one. Felt better than being outside it. Tim removed his hand, and she opened her eyes to see him nodding analytically. “Yeah, a fever,” he concluded. “We have to tell Alfred.”

“Yes,” Cassandra agreed. “In a minute.”

“Cass…"

“Minute. Tired.”

“All right.”

A beat passed, each young adult gazing up at the gold-leafed ceiling.

“Is that…a baby?”

“Yep.”

A snort. “Stupid.”

“Yep.”

Tim shifted his head, catching her brown eyes. He smiled. “Love ya, Cass.”

She smiled back, warmth exploding in her chest. This warmth wasn’t like the fever. It was a good warmth. “Love you, Tim.”


End file.
